Apr 14
The Spy In The Cab
hidden in the dashboard
the unseen mechanized eye
under surveillance
Have you ever wondered about the travel patterns of taxicabs in San Francisco? Me neither.
But now through the magic of the internets the travel patterns of taxicabs in San Francisco are yours for the mere price of a mouse click.
Enter the Exploratorium, an arts and sciences museum:
The Exploratorium is involved in a multi-year project to explore alternate views of the Bay Area’s infrastructure. Entitled Invisible Dynamics, the project hopes to reveal radically surprising and inspiring views of the systems interconnecting the communities of the Bay. We are already familiar with the dominant street-map view of our city. This project will reveal other ways of seeing our environment, such as the view of the sewer infrastructure; the flow of water; the commercial activity of boats, trucks and planes; or the ecological activities of the marshes and wetlands surrounding the bay.
Yellow Cab has all its taxis equipped with GPS trackers and has allowed the Exploratorium access to its dispatch feed (with certain identifying data removed for privacy reasons). One result is the Cabspotter, which shows real-time taxi traffic in San Francisco. (I assume the long sweeping curve at the bottom right is the Golden Gate Bridge and approaches—but I’m just guessing on this, as I’ve never been there.)
It’s all very interesting. For about five minutes.
It’s just an overview of what can be done, though. The FAQ page suggests other, more specialized projects; if you have experience writing to API* and Flash** applications, the Exploratorium will give you access to its database.
- API = a common computer acronym, standing for “American Petroleum Institute.”
- Flash = something about showing your peepee, I think. It is San Francisco, after all.
As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.
1 Comment so far
If it would allow in the future to send a Predator with a few Hellfire missiles after some of them what disappear when it is raining, I am all for technnology.
And Happy Easter all!